dont have distilled water

wheeler78

Hey first time post here...
I'm deployed in Afghanistan and we got our first humidor coming in the mail to us. however we don't have any distilled water to season it with. we do however have both saline soluition (IV bags) and bottled water. which would be better to use, i know both are far from ideal but due to our situation what would you consider using?

phobicsquirrel

That's a good question. When I was deployed over there back in 01, our LT had a 50 count with a 1ltr of distilled in his bag, which was nice as we were all set. I'd say if you can, order some. I know every place I've read said use only distilled water.

jarrodj

Here's a little known trick about not having distilled water. If you have purified water or a Pur or similar filter, boil that and it becomes distilled. Simple and easy. The process of making distilled water is to simply boil filtered water.

ejenne87

wheeler78:

Hey first time post here...
I'm deployed in Afghanistan and we got our first humidor coming in the mail to us. however we don't have any distilled water to season it with. we do however have both saline soluition (IV bags) and bottled water. which would be better to use, i know both are far from ideal but due to our situation what would you consider using?

I am in Afghanistan right now as well. I was having a similar problem until I stumbled upon some old medical supplies and found a stash of distilled water. Check with your medics, they usualy have plenty are willing to share. If they don't have any or will not share, let me know and I can get some to you. Send me a PM with your location and address and I can hook you up.

p.s. - stop by the newbie welcoming thread and do a little intro, there is also a thread for military you could check out to.

let me know how things work out for you!

YankeeMan

Do what ejenne says to do. I'm not sure what kind of deposits saline solution would leave. Also, thanks for serving!

rwheelwright

wheeler78:

Hey first time post here...
I'm deployed in Afghanistan and we got our first humidor coming in the mail to us. however we don't have any distilled water to season it with. we do however have both saline soluition (IV bags) and bottled water. which would be better to use, i know both are far from ideal but due to our situation what would you consider using?

In your case, if you are not able to get distilled water I would try to order some PG solution and maybe a har or two of the PG gel. Not sure if that will help season the humidor but should help with keeping the cigars moist.

ejenne87

rwheelwright:

I would try to order some PG solution.

rwheelwright - Good call on the PG solution, there is no tellng how many times that has already saved my life in this dirty country. Wheeler - I have some extra PG solution I will throw in if you need it, let me know. Also, you have a PM.

aggie

I'm in Iraq right now... find your nearest Motor Pool and talk to the PLL Clerk. They keep Distilled Water for truck batteries. I just emptied a bottle of water and filled it with distilled from them. Sometimes they'll give you the whole 2 gallon jug... Hope that helps!

jihiggs

umm, simply boiling filtered water does not make it distilled. distilled means boiled, evaporated, the re-condensed water. heres what you do, get some water, clean as you can, saline is just salty water, that would work but bottled drinking water would be better. put it in a pot and get it steadily boiling, im assuming you have access to a stove, or a firepit of some kind. let put a lid on it real good, after 15 min or so, take the lid off carefully, tilt it to one side and capture the water that runs off. this water is as close to distilled as you need to worry about. if your real creative, get some kind of tubing, never tried surgical, but it might work. fit it to some kind of funnel, fix the funnel tightly over the pot, take the tubing and coil it up in some water, as cold as you can get. put the other end of the tubing up higher than the rest of the coil, the coil should quickly fill up with water as the steam condenses. if the steam just escapes at the other end, there is not enough tubing coiled in the water, or the water isnt cold enough. not sure how easy it is to get cold water there, but maybe you could steal some cold packs from a hospital or somthing? there has to be SOME ice over there. put some rocks in the freezer maybe? never had to get that creative with such limited supplies. if none of this is possible, I would be happy to get some distilled water and put it in appropriate containers and send it over to you.

TatuajeVI

If you can't find any in the places listed, I'll send some to you in the mail. Just PM me your addy.

Proper Stranger

The original post is a couple weeks old now, so you might already have a solution figured out.  If not, I recommend consulting some kind of field manual.  There ought to be a fairly simple rig in there for desalinizing water (making salt water potable).  Anything that accomplishes that task, except maybe desalinization tablets, should more or less distill your water.  Jihiggs had some good advice, but you should be able to set up something fairly simple with a couple coffee cans and a trash bag that you can just leave outside (especially in such a warm climate).  If you're still having trouble, I can draw up a quick diagram and post it.  Let me know.

SlickRS

That is great info. Thanks

Archangel32G

wheeler78:

Hey first time post here...
I'm deployed in Afghanistan and we got our first humidor coming in the mail to us. however we don't have any distilled water to season it with. we do however have both saline soluition (IV bags) and bottled water. which would be better to use, i know both are far from ideal but due to our situation what would you consider using?

Hey man im here in RC east right now. If you can get with your mechanics they should have some and if they dont they can get some because i know that they use that stuff for a couple things on the mraps. if not i actually used some saline from an iv bag and that should keep you going for at least a couple weeks until you can get the proper stuff. also if you are out on a COP in a drash tent like me you can put your humi by the heater hose that comes in the tent when you go to sleep that help out my humi as well.

SgtRick

Eye wash solution is sterile and works in a pinch. They can be found everywhere.

zoom6zoom

Or set up a simple solar still. We used to do it all the time when camping. Don't they teach this in E&E class anymore? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_still

Lasabar

zoom6zoom:

Or set up a simple solar still. We used to do it all the time when camping. Don't they teach this in E&E class anymore? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_still

What's E&E???

ejenne87

Lasabar:

zoom6zoom:

Or set up a simple solar still. We used to do it all the time when camping. Don't they teach this in E&E class anymore? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_still

What's E&E???

Escape and Evade, he's talking about a class most of us get on how to survive if you are shot down or captured. Most (if not all) units have their own course. It's pretty informative, although I hear they have been getting worse due to the frequency of deployments and all the time constraints that go along with that.

I had my E&E class in my job training, and it was quite fun. We spent a week in the field, learned how to catch and prepare chicken and rabbit. We learned how to start a fire with random things, what plants to eat if you get sick, all sorts of things like that. We even got a class on how to make weapons and shelter out of nothing but sticks and other random things you can find in the middle of nowhere.